Best unheard of coaches

Sprints: Maurice Pierce (Hampton)

Distance: Ritchie Beene (Alabama State)

Jumps: Tyree Price (Bethune-Cookman)

Throws: Jacquie Grimes (Coastal Carolina)

John McNichols - Indiana State

Has built a very good mid-major program that is routinely in the mix for Missouri Valley Conference championships, and he is one of the best hurdle coaches in the nation.

I don't coach, but I'm pretty sure that my philosophy of training is "the" correct one and that I know better than any sprint or distance coach out there. The truth about coaching is that all current "top" coaches are hacks who know literally less than nothing about running nor physical training in general, but achieved totally undeserved reputations by hooking up with genetically gifted athletes. John Smith, Glenn Mills, Charlie Franicis, Clyde Hart, Orlando Saladbar...they all came up the same way. Started as elite athletes themselves, which of course reflects their own genetic gifts, then used the social connections they developed during their competitive years to hook up with the next generation of athletes, generally ruining most of ones they touched, but eventually happening upon their respective diamonds in the rough--boom, suddenly they were the greatest coaches ever.

Helen Lehman-Winters has turned U of San Francisco from a terrible joke of a team to a top 25 program. Granted during her tenure they moved from a xc only school to a distance oriented track/xc program so one would expect better recruits and results but so did some other WCC schools (Santa Clara, St.Mary's) and they are still really bad D1 teams every year. For those who remember the days when the old football coach was the xc coach it has been a very impressive turn around.

Robert Nooney - Chico State

Brett Suckstorf - Wayne State

Jennifer Michel - Western State

Jerry Balthes - Grand Valley State

Tom Dibbern - Angelo State

Tom Donnelly

Pat McCurry - College of Idaho

DEE2NUTS wrote:

Robert Nooney - Chico State

Brett Suckstorf - Wayne State

Jennifer Michel - Western State

Jerry Balthes - Grand Valley State

Tom Dibbern - Angelo State

Jerry Baltes as an unknown? The DII womens program of the year is named after this guy. People know who Jerry Baltes is.

alonzo webb

Wide Receiver wrote:

Mike Hunt

Mike is solid. I used to hit up his sibling York back in the day.

jeff stiles at washu

james mccowan at vassar

distance for both

Carlos handler

At last! :-)

Dick Gozinya wrote:

Wide Receiver wrote:

Mike Hunt

Mike is solid. I used to hit up his sibling York back in the day.

RickRock wrote:

Trent Mack

Agreed. Does a lot with a little.

DogGone wrote:

Everyone who comes to this forum probably knows who some of the best collegiate coaches out there are already. And lots of people come on here and bash plenty of coaches for not being good enough. So here is the challege: Create a list of the best collegiate coaches out there who's names don't get tossed around much. Let's break down the events like this: 1. XC/Distance/Mid Distance; 2. Sprints/Hurdles; 3. Throws; 4. Jumps

Back in the day, Billy Smith at Boston University. he coached Dave Hemery and a bunch of great mid- and distance runners -- before the school even had a track. Some trained on Commonwealth Ave. in the middle of the city while others drove around to squeeze in the odd hours at local college tracks.

Let's get this post going again!

Lee LaBadie. Distance coach at Akron. Didn't just turn Clayton Murphy into a stud, but has really shown significant improvement deep into the distance roster.

Ben Thomas. Distance coach at Virginia Tech. I've been impressed not just by Curtin and Joseph, but the whole distance roster's improvement.

Matt Sparks. Distance coach at Notre Dame. Brought Molly Seidel back from the precipice to be AA in XC and NCAA 10K champ. Had no. 1 women's recruiting class before they got a great transfer from RI. His results on the men's side are still TBD, though. If the men make nats this year, I'd anoint him coach of the year!

Henner. Head of XC, T&F at Georgetown. He's probably not 'unheard of' but he's a great MD coach. G'town overtook Penn State as 800 U. Also had 4 sub 4 guys. Amazing.

+1 for Donnelly and Stiles in D3.

As you can see, I don't know anything about sprints, jumps and throws...

Me.

I agree SonofRItz- Lech is a great coach. I ran for him at NU in the 90s and he was an inspirational and hilarious man. Really cared for his athletes and eventually unjustly lost his job at NU. He worked wonders at Umaine and is still a great coach!